Inflation Reduction Act becomes law
On Aug. 16, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act. This legislation was a huge win for the Democratic party and its efforts to lower prescription drug prices, provide Affordable Care Act subsidies and provide new spending for climate and energy initiatives, including energy and efficiency provisions of interest to the roofing industry.
To pay for hundreds of billions of new spending, the bill puts in place a 15% corporate minimum tax on large corporations; increased IRS enforcement; a two-year extension of existing limits on how certain businesses can write off their losses; and a 1% excise tax on stock buybacks. The balance of these tax provisions also provides deficit reduction—a key provision to win the support of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a chief architect of the bill. Two amendments were adopted during Senate debate that exempted businesses owned by private equity and accelerated depreciation from the new corporate minimum tax. The House passed the bill Aug. 12 on a party line vote of 220-207 after Senate approval Aug. 7. Of note, roughly 160 members voted by proxy, providing in writing they are “unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency.”
NRCA was successful in keeping out many of the most harmful tax increases included in previous versions of the legislation but remains concerned about the two-year extension on loss limitation rules, as well as the potential that increased IRS enforcement could target small businesses for honest mistakes in an overly complicated tax code.
CDC ends recommendations for social distancing and quarantine for COVID-19
On Aug. 11, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance stating the public can move away from the most restrictive measures of the pandemic, including quarantining after exposure without illness, social distancing and test-to-stay programs in schools. The CDC cites high levels of population immunity because of vaccination and previous infection, as well as numerous tools to protect the population with less restrictive protection measures.
Political dynasties are put to the test—Murkowski moves ahead, Cheney loses
In Wyoming, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney—perhaps the loudest critic of former President Trump and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney—lost her primary battle against Trump-backed lawyer Harriet Hageman by nearly 40 points.
In Alaska, two interesting races unfolded in the state’s primary election system, where the top two vote-getters move on to the general election despite party affiliation. Incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski will face off for the first time against Trump-backed Kelly Tshibaka. The special election to fill the seat of the late Rep. Don Young will not be decided for weeks, with Democrat Mary Peltola currently leading over Republican Sarah Palin. This special election will come down to where Republican Nick Begich’s votes go in the final ranked-choice round; Alaska uses this voting system, which allows voters to rank candidates by preference, so they can submit ballots that list their first-choice candidate for a position and also their second, third, etc. The candidate with more than 50% of first-choice votes wins outright; if no candidate gets more than 50%, a new round begins that eliminates the candidate with the lowest number of votes and redistributes that candidate’s ballots to voters’ second pick. This continues until a candidate receives more than 50% of all votes. Whoever wins now will fill the remainder of Young’s term in the House this year but will have to run again in November.
Primary election calendar
Aug. 23: Florida, New York
Aug. 27: Guam
Sept. 6: Massachusetts
Sept 13: Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island
